In The Community

Barb Elgin has been giving back to the GLBT community for over 20 years...

Barb Elgin has been 'giving back' to the GLBT community since her first volunteer position as a switchboard counselor with the Baltimore Gay and Lesbian Community Center in the early 1980's.  In the years since, she's held membership and leadership positions in both of her undergraduate and graduate school GLBT student organizations and for several years she served as President and Vice President of the Committee of Sexual Minority Issues with the National Association of Social Workers, Maryland Chapter. 

Coach Sappho is a lesbian-owned business that gives back liberally and often to the lesbian and GLBT communities...

Coach Sappho has been involved in a number of activities giving back to the GLBT community.  A couple of years ago, during Pride Festivals in Baltimore, Maryland, St. Petersburg, Florida and Annapolis, Maryland, Coach Sappho ran fundraisers for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore and The Juno Foundation, which makes major donations to lesbians with cancer in the Orlando, Florida area.  

Coach Sappho also frequently donates coaching scholarships to support many other community organizations such as the Mautner Project in Washington, D.C., GLBT Ocala, the York, Pennsylvania AIDS Foundation, and other GLBT organizations in places such as Albuquerque, New Mexico, etc.

Barb Elgin toured the southeastern United States in early 2006 doing a CD/book reading at Lambda Rising Bookstore in Baltimore, Maryland, and visiting and speaking to various GLBT affirmative churches in Richmond, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina and Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Recently Coach Sappho has been organizing and leading fundraising initiatives and events as well as giving talks to groups and organizations regarding topics such as lesbian relationship health and marriage equality.  Groups she's been supporting include national groups like Same Love, Same Rights (attending as a vendor three Rainbow Wedding Network gay wedding expos in 2008, including St. Petersburg, Florida, San Francisco, California and New York City, New York) and Freedom to Marry; and regional organizations like Florida Red and Blue and Impact Florida.

In 2008 Barb supported Florida's 'No on Amendment 2' initiative by speaking at Florida area churches, holding a Florida Red and Blue fundraiser for the GLBT community in Ocala and co-leading an anti-Amendment 2 protest in Ocala, Florida, following the November 2008 elections.

Barb Elgin shares her business expertise freely...

Barb Elgin is a strong advocate for lesbian and GLBT business.  She's served voluntarily on the board of the Maryland Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and was selected by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to serve on the Executive Women's Business Initiative. 

On the grass roots level, to support small and micro business owners, Barb founded and leads a number of online communities for business owners, such as Lez Do Biz!,  The GLBT Business Networking Group at Yahoo Groups, Networking 4 Businesses Serving Lesbians at Pulse/Plaxo and Businesses Serving the Lesbian Market on GLEE.com.

In particular, if you are a business or organization that serves lesbians primarily or solely, or even if you don't right now but you'd like to improve your outreach and service to lesbians, we want to talk to you!  Be sure to contact us and suggest some ways we might work together for the betterment of lesbian women!